China police seize ivory smuggled via Vietnam border

Customs officers in the Chinese Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region have confiscated 368.5 kg of ivory, which were trafficked from Africa into the country via its border with Vietnam.

Three suspects were detained at scene. The 165 elephant tusks, worth over 29 million CNY (4.4 million USD), were illegally transported to Pingxiang city on the night of November 13 and were captured by customs officers the next day, a Nanning official said on December 8. Nanning is the capital of the region.

According to China’s State Forestry Administration, in 2016, the amount of smuggled ivory seized in China dropped by 80 percent from previous peak years.

The local law stipulates that the smuggling of precious animal products worth more than 1 million CNY can be punished with over 10 years in prison or a life sentence.

China will stop commercial processing and sales of ivory by the end of this year.-VNA